Copy-receiving tray

ABSTRACT

An attachment to a copying machine separates issuing copies from processed original sheets and ensures that both copies and originals are in the same order and the correct way up even though on issuing from the machine outlets, the copy sheets are back to front. This is done by allowing the originals to fall in the order in which they issue but deflecting the copies through an angle greater than a right angle as they fall and then collecting them; the result is to return the front to the front.

PATENTEnunv 2 Isn SHEET 10F 2 u HH/ FIGl United States Patent Inventor Wilfrid Menard 2660 Champfleury Avenue, Quebec City 3, Quebec, Canada Appl. No. '44,523 Filed June 8, 1970 Patented Nov. 2, 1971 COPY-RECEIVING TRAY 6 Claims, 2 Drawing Figs.

U.S. CI 271/64, 271/86 Int. Cl B65h 31/24 Field of Search 271/86, 64, 65, 63

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,036,409 4/ 1936 Gollnick et al. 271/64 3,154,356 lO/1964 Lewis et al 27l/86X 3,309,081 3/1967 Van Buskirk 271/86 3,392,974 7/1968 Hoer 271/86 Primary Examiner-Joseph Wegbreit Attorney-Stevens, Davis, Miller & Mosher ABSTRACT: An attachment to a copying machine separates issuing copies from processed original sheets and ensures that both copies and originals are in the same order and the correct way up even though on issuing from the machine outlets, the copy sheets are back to front.

This is done by allowing the originals to fall in the order in which they issue but deflecting the copies through an angle greater than a right angle as they fall and then collecting them; the result is to return the front to the front.

PATENTEDunv 2 Isn SHEET 2 UF 2 COPY-RECEIVING TRAY The invention relates to a copy-receiving tray for a copier, particularly to a copy-receiving tray in which the originals are automatically sorted from the copies and the originals and the copies fall into the tray in the same order.

At present the copiers are provided with receiving trays in which the originals slide into the receiving tray in a reverse position to that in which the copies are received. This necessitates the replacing of the copies in the same order as the originals and can be the cause of errors when copying pages of an original containing many pages that must be in a particular order.

lt is the main object of this invention to provide a copyreceiving tray for copiers that is economically manufactured, simply and dependably operated, and durably constructed.

Another object is to provide a copy-receiving tray that is detachable and adjustably connected to the copier.

Another object is to provide a copy-receiving tray in which the originals and copies are automatically placed in the copyreceiving tray in the same order.

The above objects are accomplished by providing a copyreceiving tray that may be detachably mounted on the front of the particular copier being used, for example the copier manufactured by the Xerox Corporation of Rochester, N.Y. and known as model 813. The said copier is provided with slots from which the originals and copies are separately expelled, the originals expelling slot being above the copies expelling slot, and means for supporting a copy-receiving tray. In the present invention the copy-receiving tray is supported substantially vertically by an adjustable bracket, one end of which is mounted on the copier and the other end is adjustably connected to the copy-receiving tray. The copy-receiving tray is formed of front and rear parts hingedly connected together. The forward part receives the originals when coming out from the copier and the rear part receives the copies when coming out from the copier. The originals are received by the rear part of the copy-receiving tray in upside-down position and slide or fall into the front side of the said rear part in the order in which they were inserted into the copier and are removed in that order. The copies are received from the copier in upsideup position and slide or fall into the rear part of the copyreceiving tray. The copies slide against the rear face of the front part of the said copy-receiving tray with the upper part of the said rear face shaped to cause copies to enter the rear part of the tray. After passing the said upper part of the rear face of the front part of the tray the copies slide or fall forwardly towards the rear face of the front part of the copyreceiving tray and then contact the rearwardly sloped inner face of the forward side of the said rear part which causes the copies to be toppled over into the upside-down position. The copies in the upside-down position and in the same order as thev originals then slide down into the lower part of the rear part of the copy-receiving tray. The front and rear parts of the copy-receiving tray are hingedly connected together to provide for the withdrawal of the copies from the top part of the tray and also to have better access to the copier. The upper part of the front part of the copy-receiving tray is rotated forwardly to effect the said top removal of copies. The rear part of the copy-receiving tray for the copies extends a sufficient distance below the front part of the tray for the originals so that copies may also be withdrawn from the bottom of said rear part.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed.

FIG. l is a schematic front elevation of the copy-receiving tray.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side elevation of the copy-receiving tray.

Referring to the drawings, a copier 1 is partly shown schematically in FIG. 2 having a front side 2 and a bottom side 3. The front side 2 is provided with horizontal slots 4, 5 and 6 of predetermined width and depth. The originals 7 are fed into the copier 1 through the slot 4, and expelled from the copier l through the slot in upside-down position. The copies 8 are expelled from the copier 1 through the slot 6 in upside-up position.

A copy-receiving tray referred to generally as 9 is adjustably supported in the copier 1 by a bracket or brackets 10. The rear upper horizontal part ll of the bracket 10 fits into a slot 12 formed in the lower part of the copier 1. The vertical forward part 13 of the bracket 10 is adjustably mounted by screws 14 in a supporting member 15 which is suitably fastened to the rear face 16 of the copy-receiving tray 9. The copy receiving tray 9 consists of two main members, a front member 17 and a rear member 18 spring hingedly connected together at 19. The front member 17 forms the front part of the copy-receiving tray 9 and is formed with a top face 20, a bottom face 21, sidewalls 22 and 23, a top rearwardly facing opening 24, and a lower forward facing opening 25. The upper part of the bottom face 21 of the front member 17 is formed with a rearwardly projecting member 26 of predetermined width and depth. The upper side 27 of the projecting member 26 slopes downwardly and forwardly to join the lower edge 28 of the top opening 24 of the front member 17 of the copyreceiving tray 9, and projects rearwardly to 29 so that when the copy-receiving tray 9 is adjustably mounted on the copier 1,. the end 29 will be in the desired position to receive the originals 7 being expelled through the slot 5 from the front side 2 of the copier 1. The lower side 30 of the projecting member 26 is suitably shaped downwardly and forwardly as shown in FIG. 2 to form a projection 31 on the bottom or inner face 21 against which the copies 8 contact and slide downwards into the rear member 18 of the copy receiving tray 9. The bottom or inner face 2l then extends downwards and forwardly from the lower side 32 of the projection 3l to the lower end 33 of the front member 17 of the copy-receiving tray 9. The lower end 33 of inner side 2l of the front member 17 is curved upwards forwardly to form a cup-shaped receptacle 34 for receiving and supporting the originals 7 as they slide down the bottom face 21 of the said originals front member 17. The top face of the front member 17 of copy-receiving tray 9 extends downwardly a sufficient distance to leave an opening through which the originals may be manually removed.

The rear member 18 of the copy-receiving tray 9 which is hingedly connected at 19 to the front member 17 of the copyreceiving tray is adjustably mounted by means of the bracket 10 and the supporting member l5 as previously described. Also as previously described the copies 8 are expelled from the copier l through the slot 6 in upside-up position, and then contact and slide downwardly on the face of the projection 3l before falling into the rear member 18 to be toppled over into upside-down position within the said rear member 18 of the copy-receiving tray 9. The upper end 35 of the rear face 16 of the rear member 18 of the copy-receiving tray 9 is extended upwardly and rearwardly in a sloping position as a ledge 37 of sufficient width and depth to maintain the copies in proper desired position when entering the top open side 38 ofthe rear member 18 of the copy receiver tray 9. The front face 39 of the rear member 18 is shaped to cause the copies after passing through the top open side 38 to be toppled so that the copies are received in the bottom part 40 of the copy receiver tray 9 in the same order as the originals are received in the bottom cup-shaped receptacle 34 of the front member 17 of the copy receiver tray. The upper part 41 of the front face 39 of the rear member 18 is sloped downwardly and forwardly to join a substantially horizontal part 42 facing forwardly. The forward end of the horizontal part 42 supports the spring hinge pins 19 which are also supported by the rear face 21 of the front member 17. The rear end 43 of the horizontal part 42 is united to the front face 39 of the rear member 18. The front face 39 of the rear member 18 extends from the upper rear end 44 to near the bottom part 40 of the rear member 18. A space or opening 45 is formed in the said front face 39 as shown in FIG. 2 through which the copies may be manually removed.

The operation of the copy-receiver tray 9 will be noted from the dotted lines shown in FIG. 2 which shown the various positions of the originals and copies on their passage into the tray. The originals 7 and copies 8 are shown being expelled from their respective slots 5 and 6 in the copier 1. The originals 7 pass on to the projecting member 26 and then into the opening 24 of the front member 17 and then slide in upside-down position to the bottom of the front member 17. The copies 8 are expelled from the slot 6 in the copier l and contact and slide down the projection shaped face 31 in upside-up position. As shown by the dotted lines 46, 47, 48 and 49 the copies 8 after passing the projecting face 8 swing forwardly against the upper side of the front face 39 as shown in dotted line 46, then swing further as shown in dotted lines 47 and 48 until they slide down the rear side of front face 39 along the dotted line 49 into their final upside-down position.

A magnet 50 is suitably attached to the rear face 21 of the front member 17 between hinge 19' and the upper end 44 of front face 39 of rear member 18 to keep the front member 17 standing still against the rear member 18.

While the instant invention has been described and shown in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred invention it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention but it is to be accorded full scope of the claiiis.

l claim:

1. A copy-receiving tray comprising means for detachably mounting the said tray on a copier, a front member for receiving expelled originals from the said copier, a rear member spring hingedly connected 1.o the said front member for receiving the expelled copies from the said copier, means within the said rear member for toppling over the said copies into the same order as the originals are received in the said front member of said copy-receiving tray.

2. A copy-receiving tray as described in claim 1 in which the said front member of said copy-receiving tray is provided with a front face, a bottom face and sidewalls for receiving the originals in upside-down position, a cup-shaped receptacle at the lower end of said bottom face, and openings in said front member for receiving said originals and for manually removing said originals.

3. A copy-receiving tray as described in claim 2 in which the said bottom face of said front member of said copy-receiving tray is formed with an upper rearwardly projecting member for receiving the copies from the said copier and a sloped projecting member on the upper part of the bottom face of said front member for directing the copies received from said copier downwardly into the said rear member.

4. A copy-receiving tray as described in claim l in which the said rear member of said copy-receiving tray is formed with a front face, a rear face, sidewalls, an opening in the upper end for receiving said copies in upside-up position and an opening in the bottom for manually removing said copies in upsidedown position.

5. A copy-receiving tray as described in claim 4 in which the said opening in the upper end is formed between the side faces of said rear member and slopes forwardly and downwardly towards the rear face of said front member of said copyreceiving tray to receive the copies in upside-down position, and said front face of said rear member is sloped rearwardly and downwardly from the front edge of said upper opening to the bottom of said rear member to cause the copies to topple over into upside-down position.

6. A copy-receiving tray as defined in claim 2 in which a magnet is mounted between the bottom face of the front member and the front face of the rear member. 

1. A copy-receiving tray comprising means for detachably mounting the said tray on a copier, a front member for receiving expelled originals from the said copier, a rear member spring hingedly connected to the said front member for receiving the expelled copies from the said copier, means within the said rear member for toppling over the said copies into the same order as the originals are received in the said front member of said copyreceiving tray.
 2. A copy-receiving tray as described in claim 1 in which the said front member of said copy-receiving tray is provided with a front face, a bottom face and sidewalls for receiving the originals in upside-down position, a cup-shaped receptacle at the lower end of said bottom face, and openings in said front member for receiving said originals and for manually removing said originals.
 3. A copy-receiving tray as described in claim 2 in which the said bottom face of said front member of said copy-receiving tray is formed with an upper rearwardly projecting member for receiVing the copies from the said copier and a sloped projecting member on the upper part of the bottom face of said front member for directing the copies received from said copier downwardly into the said rear member.
 4. A copy-receiving tray as described in claim 1 in which the said rear member of said copy-receiving tray is formed with a front face, a rear face, sidewalls, an opening in the upper end for receiving said copies in upside-up position and an opening in the bottom for manually removing said copies in upside-down position.
 5. A copy-receiving tray as described in claim 4 in which the said opening in the upper end is formed between the side faces of said rear member and slopes forwardly and downwardly towards the rear face of said front member of said copy-receiving tray to receive the copies in upside-down position, and said front face of said rear member is sloped rearwardly and downwardly from the front edge of said upper opening to the bottom of said rear member to cause the copies to topple over into upside-down position.
 6. A copy-receiving tray as defined in claim 2 in which a magnet is mounted between the bottom face of the front member and the front face of the rear member. 